Reunion
by fornwalt
Summary: [Post movie] “Edward?” Al started, but Edward interrupted him.“What does that look like to you, Al?” he pointed a gloved finger to a lump in the middle of the Elbe. Al stared at it,“A … a body!” he stuttered. Ed nodded grimly. “That’s what I thought,”
1. Meeting

**Reunion**

**Chapter 1  
**

Edward sighed and cracked his knuckles. He didn't mind walking everywhere, but it did get tiring after walking a week straight with only the road as company. That, and carrying the food supply was hard work.

"This would be so much easier if you were still a suit of armor, Al," Ed groaned, massaging his back. Al frowned, his blonde ponytail blowing in the breeze.

"Excuse me," he said sarcastically, "It's your fault, you know. You're the one who got me back in my body."

"That's not my fault!"

"And you're the one who got sent to this country afterwards," Al continued, ignoring his brother.

"Again, not my fault!"

"And you're the one who tempted me by coming back to our world two years later…"

"_You_ tempted _me_!"

"And you're the one who didn't stay in our world two years ago when you had the chance, therefore forcing me to come with you," Al finished, nodding and folding his arms, "Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault."

"Ok, first of all, the body thing wasn't my fault; getting sent to Germany wasn't my fault; _you_ really tempted _me_ by coming back in a suit of armor and proving that you were alive; and I did the right thing by coming back here! It's your fault that you decided to come! You could have stayed and kept Winry company." Edward counted off on his fingers as his voice played with the tones of angry and annoyed.

"Winry…" Al looked at the sky above them, clear and blue on the mid-autumn day. It was beautiful out, with the trees all changing color and the temperature not to warm and not to hot. His red overcoat blew slightly in the breeze. It was the same outfit that he had worn after his brother had gone missing, and no matter how many times Ed pointed out that it didn't blend in with this world, he paid no mind, "Do you realize that it's been two years since we've last seen her?"

Edward sighed, scratching his head, "Has it? Wow, hard to believe…"

"It's even harder to believe that we can't ever see her again, and that we have to finish the rest of our lives in this strange country, fighting against the Nazis and helping destroy the concentration camps," Al's tone had a level of sadness as he mentioned the ongoing internal war in Germany.

"I'm glad that she's not here to see any of it," Edward replied, and Alphonse nodded in agreement.

"How old would she be?" he asked. Ed closed his eyes, thinking.

"About nineteen, right? Maybe twenty…"

"Twenty? Seriously?" Al blinked, "Wow… She's old!"

Ed stumbled at this comment, glaring at his brother, "_She's_ old?! Need I remind you that I'm twenty now too, and you're nineteen!"

"Well, technically I'm only fifteen." Al corrected smugly. Ed gave him a glare that could peel paint.

"Your body's fifteen, but _technically_ you're nineteen!" he insisted angrily. Al chuckled.

"Just keep telling yourself that, brother," he pranced along, just dodging his brother's lunge. They walked in silence for a few moments, but the silence was light and happy. The road beside them was empty, as automobiles were few and far between, especially out here in the country. The two were walking over a thin bridge that covered a large river. They knew from the map that it was called the Elbe, and that they were getting close to Berlin.

"So, what are we going to eat when we get to Berlin?" Al asked cheerily. Edward didn't respond, and Alphonse turned to see him frozen, glancing towards the river.

"Edward?" Al started, but Edward interrupted him.

"What does that look like to you, Al?" he pointed a gloved finger to a lump in the middle of the Elbe. Al stared at it for a moment before his eyes widened.

"A … a body!" he stuttered. Edward nodded grimly.

"That's what I thought," he took off his coat and backpack, dropping it on the bridge, "Be right back."

"Brother!" Al cried as Edward jumped head first off the bridge, falling a good twenty feet before hitting the water with a large splash. Al ran to the side of the bridge and watched in amazement, remembering how heavy the metal was on him, and how much Edward must be pushing just to stay afloat with a metal leg and arm. His brother surfaced and began doing strong strokes towards the body. He quickly grabbed it and towed it towards the bank of the river. The current pulled him a good ways downstream, but finally he managed to grab onto it.

By this time, Al had almost caught up to him, carrying the coat and luggage that Ed had discarded. While he ran, he watched as Edward bent down to do what looked like kiss the body's lips, and then retract and push three times hard on the chest of it. Al finally got close enough to notice that it was a woman whom Ed had saved, but she was unconscious, and possibly dead.

"Is she okay?" Al asked, huffing. Ed didn't respond, only continued to perform CPR on her. After four times of the rounds, the woman stirred and coughed water. It dribbled down her face, and Edward sat back, panting slightly from the swim and CPR.

"She'll be fine," he said in relief. Al was too stunned to talk, and Edward followed his gaze to the woman. She was young, in her early twenties at the most. She had bright blonde hair, down to about three inches below her shoulder. Her features were soft and friendly, and her creamy skin shone with water drops. She had a great figure, and her arms were very tone. Her flower-patterned sundress clung to her body.

"Winry…" Al whispered, and Edward shook his head.

"It's just her look-alike, Al," he said, almost in amazement. Alphonse's gaze lowered, discouraged.

"Look-alike?" he clarified.

"Yeah. Mine died while I was still in his body, and that was how I came back after I was cast into the gate. Yours died shortly before you came here, remember? He was shot right after sending me to our world. This girl is just Winry's look-alike. Her name's probably close to Winry's too, like Windy or something," Edward sighed as Al nodded slowly.

"That makes sense, I guess…" he sounded terribly disheartened, and it hurt Edward to hear him so depressed.

The girl groaned, moving her head slowly. Suddenly her eyes shot open, revealing crystal clear blue eyes. Al and Ed moved back so she would have some room.

"Uh, do you feel alright, miss?" Edward asked cautiously. The woman blinked and frowned, sitting up.

"Miss? Come on, don't you recognize me, Edward?" she asked, sounding hurt. Edward gaped again, and Al nearly fell over.

"Winry?" Ed stared at her with wide eyes. The woman laughed, a beautiful sound that reminded him of bells ringing.

"Of course! Who else would it be?" Winry's eyes sparkled, and she grinned. Al and Ed continued to stare at her in disbelief.

"But, how? We sealed the gate on this side, and Mustang should have done the same on your side!" Al protested. Winry sighed.

"I'll explain later, okay? For now, just come here, both of you! It's been what, two years?" Winry engulfed both of the stunned men in a huge hug, and Al and Ed found themselves hugging her back. Finally, she released and sat back down, tears running down her face, mixing with the water already present.

"Why are you crying, Winry?" Al asked. Winry wiped her eyes and smiled.

"It's just, I've been trying to get here for two years, and now I finally made it. And the first people I meet just happen to be the two men I've been looking for."

Al and Ed glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. They had missed Winry terribly, but they had each other to deal with it. Edward remembered how lost he had felt when both Al and Winry were in his old world, while he had been stuck in Germany. Now he realized that Winry must have felt he same way.

Winry sneezed, bringing the two men out of their memories. Edward grabbed his coat and wrapped it around his best friend, smiling gently, "Here, you're going to catch a cold if you don't get out of those clothes."

She gratefully wrapped it around herself. Suddenly she gasped and turned to stare at the river.

"My luggage!" she moaned, "It's been carried away by the river!"

"Luggage?" Al asked in disbelief. Edward's face mirrored how he felt.

"Yeah! I need that! I have to go get it!" she stood up and clutched her head, "Oh, got up to fast…"

Alphonse and Edward jumped up to help her. They eased her back down to the soft, mossy grass, "Winry, you almost drowned! Take it easy!" Al said.

"Yeah, just hang out here for a while. Al will get your luggage," Edward volunteered. Al scowled angrily.

"What?! Why should I have to?" he demanded. Edward grinned evilly.

"Because you're 'only fifteen', and you should listen to your elders!" he ordered, using air quotes to bring back the previous argument. Al opened his mouth to respond, but Winry moved to stand up again.

"Don't fight, guys. I'll go get it myself; it's no big deal."

"Ah! Uh, don't bother, Winry! I'll do it!" and Al ran downstream, looking frantically for her luggage. Ed chuckled.

"I love being the one with the last laugh," he remarked, smirking. Then his tone turned more serious, "Winry, what are you doing here? How could you get here?"

Winry shook her head, "I can't say without Al being here."

Edward pouted, "You're just saying that to get the last laugh!"

"Duh," Winry smiled sweetly, mocking her friend. Edward laughed.

"God, I'd forgotten how much I missed you, Winry," he stated. Winry blushed slightly, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "I really did. Four years is way too long."

Winry smiled, "I agree wholeheartedly," her face lit up, and she beamed, "I never did get to check your auto-mail! Two years with the same set… That must have been harsh with the tactics you use."

Eagerly she grabbed his right arm and pulled off the sopping wet glove, pushing back the long sleeves he wore. She examined the damp metal with care and precision; "Your right tricep is twisted, probably making it difficult for you to raise your arms, right?"

"Uh…" Edward nodded slowly. Winry continued to survey the damage, shaking her head and muttering angrily.

"Look at all this, Edward! Damage everywhere… Oh, I need a wrench!" she clicked her tongue impatiently, "What have you been doing all this time, Ed? This arm's practically worthless!"

"It's not worthless! You made it, so it can't be worthless," he put on an innocent smile. She chuckled.

"Nice try, but I'm still upset that you've damaged such an expensive auto-mail piece."

"Eh, it was worth a shot," he shrugged. Winry sighed and moved to his left leg. She took of his boot and rolled up his pant leg. Then she began to wiggle his mechanical toes, one by one. After that she tested how well his ankle rotated, and then moved to his knee. Her face furrowed in disbelief as she muttered curses about 'my precious auto-mail' and 'reckless jerks'. Edward scowled in annoyance.

"You realize that even though it's dented and dismantled, it saved my life several times, and that's why it's like that?" he tried to defend himself. Winry glared at him.

"Yes, that's _good to know_!" she cried sarcastically, "My best friends have been in life-death positions, and only my auto-mail is keeping them alive! _Thank God_! I feel _so_ much better now!" she turned around and folded her arms angrily. Edward scrambled up and sat in front of her, scowling.

"Hey, it wasn't all fun and games for us, you know!" he shot back, getting mad as well, "We risked our lives, sure, but we saved a ton of lives too! We destroyed some concentration camps, and rescued the people trapped inside! We did that without alchemy, but we're still here! And thanks to us, now a few other people are too!" he clenched his fists in a fit of anger. Winry sat silently for a few moments.

"Concentration camps…?" she asked quietly. Edward furrowed his brow and nodded.

"Yeah. They're these horrible camps that torture and kill people just for being different. There's a war going on, internally, here in Germany. The purebred Germans have decided that the different cultures weaken their country, so they decided to mass slaughter them by use of concentration camps. They're led by a man called Adolf Hitler."

"That's horrible…" Winry covered her mouth, her clear blue eyes shaking.

"Now do you see why we would have preferred you stay in our world?" he asked. Winry scowled.

"I'm not leaving," she said decisively. Ed sighed.

"You don't have much of a choice now, do you?" he mused, "Once Al gets back, you'd better give us the whole story, beginning to end."

"I will," Winry gazed at the river's gently flowing water, her mind still processing the thought of concentration camps.

Things sure were different here.

* * *

A/N: Wow. I wrote this a while ago, and I thought that I had posted it, but apparently not. So, here you go! I hope you liked this chapter. I know I had fun writing it:D More to come later, so keep checking for it. Thanks for reading, and I'd really appreciate a review or two to tell me what you thought! 


	2. Explainations

A/N: Okay, here's chappie two:) Thanks for everyone who reviewed and/or story alerted this, I really appreciate it! I hope you like the way I explained Winry showing up randomly, and there'll be more EdxWinry fluff later on!

Also, I formally apologize to everyone who notices the inaccuracy of history in this story. I learned about the holocaust two years ago, so I don't remember much. If it seriously bothers you, it might be best if you stop reading, because it's only going to get worse from here on out. I write my stories for the cute fluffy moments, not so much for historical accuracy. If it doesn't bother you, keep reading:D Thanks go to SkullyDeveux for pointing out this inaccuracy! Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Reunion**

**Chapter 2**

"Finally! What took you so long?" Edward crossed his arms, looking stern in a mocking sort of way. Alphonse glared bloody murder at him, towing the large suitcase with staggering steps.

"Well, for one, I had to find it. Then I had to swim, against the current, I might add, to the other side of the river to retrieve it. Then I had to get back and drag it back here!" Al said through clenched teeth. Winry smiled and walked over to him, having recovered a little.

"Thanks, Al," she gave him a quick hug before lugging the suitcase back to Edward. Ed smirked at his brother as he sat back down.

"Okay, Winry. Al's here, so spill already. We both want to know everything that happened," Ed stated. Winry laid her suitcase down and opened the strong clasps on either side. Silently she pulled the top up, revealing auto-mail parts of all shapes and sizes.

"No wonder it was so heavy!" Al cried in horror, eyeing the metal, "You're lucky I found it on the bank, otherwise it would have sunk to the bottom of the river!" Winry chuckled dryly and turned to Ed.

"Here, let me see your arm again," she ordered. Edward obeyed, watching with curiosity as she disconnected the auto-mail. She fumbled inside the suitcase for a moment before producing an auto-mail arm, brand new and in perfect condition.

"Winry, how'd you know to bring one of those?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Alphonse nodded, amazement showing on his face.

"I figured that when I did find you two, your arm and leg wouldn't be working properly at the very least, or completely broken off at worst. So, I came prepared. Look, I have your replacement arm and leg, as well as enough parts to build at least four more of each," she smiled, showing the two brothers her workshop pieces.

"Wow…" Ed muttered.

"You _did_ come prepared, Winry," Al watched as she took the arm she had already been holding and attached it to the base on Ed's right shoulder. Then she dug around for a few more minutes before bringing out a metal leg, just like the one Edward had already. It sparkled and shone in the midday sun.

Winry unattached the old leg, fiddled with the new one for a moment, and then pushed it into the base on the real part of his leg. She wiped her forehead and waved Alphonse over, "Here, Al, when I tell you to, you need to pull this lever down, all right?" she attached the lever between the base and the metal leg, and Al nodded and grabbed a hold of it. Winry proceeded to do the same with Edward's arm.

"Ready, Edward?" she asked. Ed closed his eyes and nodded slowly, "Okay, now, Al!" at the same time, the two of them pulled the levers down, and Edward cringed. Sweat began to form at his forehead as he smirked through the pain.

"If these things weren't so damn useful, I'd have sacked them a long time ago…" he muttered. Winry gave his left shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"It'll all be over in a few minutes, Ed. You know that; you've done this before," she said soothingly. He chuckled dryly.

"Sure, but the pain's the same, even after all this time," he sighed and loosened; the once sharp pain no more then a dull throb. Winry nodded sympathetically and detached the levers from his arm and leg.

"Try moving them," she suggested, and Al nodded. Edward sighed again and stood up, stretching.

"They feel much better than the old pair, that's for sure," he smirked, bending down to touch his toes. Winry put her hands on her hips.

"Well, they should! That pair is even better than my last. It's made of the strongest, lightest metal I could find; titanium. It took me a full week for each of them, and I must have pulled at least three all-nighters," she beamed proudly.

"Wow. Thanks, Winry," Edward jogged in place for a moment. Winry's face turned serious.

"You had better not break that pair for at least two years, Ed. I can make minor adjustments, but if you go and break it to bits, as you've done in the past, I'll have to use one of the new replacements. I'm hoping those will last for at least ten years, so don't make me use them early. I don't think the technology here is advanced enough to make a suitable pair once these are gone. At least, not yet," she accused.

"Not. My. Fault." Edward muttered through clenched teeth, "Scar broke it the first time!"

"Your fault, your fault," Al chanted in a singing voice. Edward scowled at him and sat back down.

"Okay, now that my auto-mail's up to date, let's hear how you got here. Don't leave anything out," he ordered. Winry sighed and nodded slowly.

"Okay, here it goes," she inhaled and exhaled slowly, "Two years ago, you came back to our world, right? At first I was overjoyed. Maybe you would stay, and then we could all be together again! That's what I hoped, at least. I savored the time it took me to put on the auto-mail back in the underground city. Any second I could spend with you I wanted to remember. So, when you took off after Al, I desperately followed.

"I watched as you met up with your brother, and I watched as the two of you took off on that block of stone to get to the airship. I watched as you met up with Mustang, and then you disappeared inside the ship. You guys had no idea how worried I was that one of you wouldn't come out. But it was worse than that. I was horrified when I saw you stay on the ship, and Mustang and Al part their separate ways. I knew that Al would go to close the gate on this side, so I immediately started back there in hopes of intercepting Edward's ship.

"I was too late. By the time I got to the underground city and the gate, Mustang was sealing it up. I sprinted the last thirty feet and made a dive for the dwindling gate, but he grabbed me and told me that if I went through, I would be killed before I made it to the other side…

"_Stop it, Winry. You can't go through without some sort of protection. You'll be killed before you get to him," Roy calmly held the girl back. Winry's eyes widened and tears poured from her face as she watched the gate slowly disappear, leaving only a scorch mark in its place. The transmutation circle vanished, and the brigadier general let go. _

"_He's gone… He's gone again…" she sobbed, falling to the ground like a broken doll. Roy hesitated and knelt down beside her._

"_Actually, they're both gone," he put a hand on her shoulder as she looked up sharply at him. _

"_Both…?" her voice trailed off, and she bit her lip as another wave of sobs racked her body, "Al went too?"_

_Roy nodded, "He said that he couldn't stand to be away from Edward any longer, so I let him go as soon as Ed looked away. He slipped back on the ship, leaving me to close the gate."_

_Winry stared silently at the scorch mark on the floor, her once happy eyes dull and lifeless. Roy helped her stand, and he led her out of the underground city, back towards the military base._

"To put it mildly, I was short of a mess," Winry shook her head, "For days I couldn't eat anything, and that actually put me in the hospital for a while. Finally granny came to Central and slapped some sense into me," she smiled, remembering her grandmother's visit.

"_Winry, snap out of it! Yes, the boys are gone, but that's no reason for you to be starving yourself. Those boys made a choice, and they chose to go back to the other world. You should be supportive and accept their decision, not fuss over it like a baby!" Pinako crossed her arms. _

"_But, they're gone…" Winry whispered, staring at the ceiling. Pinako narrowed her eyes._

"_Yes, they're gone. They won't be back, and you and I both know that. It's time you shape up and accept that fact, because otherwise you won't be happy."_

"_With them gone, is happiness possible?" the girl asked, sadness and despair dripping from every word. _

_Pinako clenched her fists, "Of course, Winry! Why, if those boys were here, what would they think? How would they react, seeing their best friend lying in a hospital bed suffering depression? Have you fallen so far as to let a little thing like goodbye ruin your life? Is that what Ed and Al would have wanted?!" she asked sharply. _

_Winry's eyes widened as she took in this information, and she bit her lip, "They would… they would be angry at me…"_

"_That's right. So you'd better shape up and come back home. I've been pulling all-nighters just to keep up with the work, and I need you to help me out," Pinako stalked out of the room, and Winry continued to think of what Ed and Al would think if they saw her like this. _

"The hospital?" Al interrupted Winry's daydream. She nodded, and Edward's brow furrowed.

"Winry, you starved yourself?" he scowled angrily, "See, Al, I told you that you should have stayed back in our world!"

Al glared back, "How was I supposed to know that she'd practically kill herself? It's not my fault!" the two brothers glared at each other for a moment before Winry cleared her throat.

"Uh, guys, I'm not done," she objected. Al and Ed turned around and waited for her to continue, occasionally sending threatening glances at each other, "Okay, so after granny had the talk with me, I did shape up. I started eating again, and was released from the hospital about a week later. I said goodbye to the people in Central and headed back home. Granny met me there, and work picked up again as usual. Of course, I still missed you two terribly, but now I worked harder than I ever had, deciding that you two were doing the same over here.

"This went on for about two months, until Mustang came down for an unexpected visit. Hawkeye came with him, and apparently he had proposed to her," Winry chuckled as Al and Ed both said "finally!" at the same time, "They were expecting their first child in about nine months."

"A kid?! Mustang?" Edward nearly toppled over, "I pity that child."

Al nodded in agreement, "Can you imagine the household those two must be running? It would be all, 'Clean your room or I'll use you for target practice!'"

The two boys snickered at this thought, and Winry shook her head, "Actually, their baby boy is the cutest thing ever. He was about a year old when I left, and surprisingly enough, Hawkeye is an amazing mother."

"Wow," Al and Ed glanced at each other in amazement.

"Anyway, Mustang came down, and he and Hawkeye stayed with us for a week. While he was there, he took me to the place where you burned down your house."

"_Winry, do you still want to see Ed and Al?" Roy leaned up against the tree, glancing at the blackened pile of rubble to the left of him. Winry nodded slowly._

"_More than anything…" she muttered. He sighed._

"_I can get you there. To the other side of the gate," he told her. She bolted up from where she was lying and stared at him with big eyes. _

"_What's the catch?" she whispered, afraid of the answer._

"_It would take a sacrifice, but if that person is willing, you would be able to see Fullmetal and his brother again," he sighed, "Of course, you'd also be stuck there, because you can't come back once you go through. Not with this way."_

"_I would love to, but I can't. Ed and Al wouldn't want me to sacrifice anyone just to see them, and I have to agree. We won't sacrifice anyone, and I'll stay here," Winry smiled sadly, "Besides, Granny needs me here. She's getting older, and if I leave she'll have to close the shop." _

"_I see. Well, if that's your decision, I won't mention it again. It was just an idea," Roy shrugged and stood up, "Just remember that if you ever change your mind, come to Central and visit me, all right?" _

"_I will," Winry promised. Roy tipped his hat and headed back to Winry's house. Winry sighed and glanced at the rubble sadly, "I will…" she murmured. _

"He told me of an old alchemic secret that could get me to the other side of the gate. I refused it, though, because it required one live sacrifice. I knew that you two wouldn't want that, and neither did I, so we let the matter drop," Winry said.

Al and Ed nodded approval, "But, how'd you end up here then?" Al asked.

"Let me finish, will you?" Winry demanded. Al shrunk back while Ed laughed.

"Sorry, Winry, please keep going," Al bowed down to the grassy floor. Winry chuckled and nodded.

"Hawkeye and Mustang left, and we continued to work. Occasionally I would take a trip to Central to visit Elysia and Gracia. Sheska would love it when I visited, because she always had something new to tell me. Last I heard, Havoc had proposed to her.

"This went on for about a year, but Mustang's proposition lagged in the back of my mind. The thought of seeing you two again was so tempting that I felt like crying whenever my mind brought it up. However, with Granny I managed to deal with it, and I was happy. Things were going pretty well, and I even had a boyfriend for a while."

At this Ed and Al straightened. Ed narrowed his eyes, "Who?" he demanded.

"Just a boy," Winry taunted them.

"_Who_?" Ed said in a dangerously low voice. Al's face mirrored Ed's voice.

"Jason Tagger, if you must know." Winry yielded.

Al and Ed looked at each other, trying to figure out who Jason was, "Jason… Jason… Oh! Jason from the tool shop Jason?"

"Yes, that Jason," Winry nodded. Alphonse scoffed.

"He's nothing special," he said bitterly. Winry raised an eyebrow.

"Jealous, guys?" both boys blushed slightly. Ed coughed.

"Go on, then," he said in a defeated tone.

"Well, things were going great, but I broke up with him because he tried to take advantage of me."

Al and Ed stood up angrily, "We'll kill him," Al growled. Edward nodded.

"I'll send him to the deepest pits of hell," Edward threatened. Winry shrugged.

"Go ahead, if you can get to him," she said, "So once again it was just me and Granny. I would have been satisfied with that, but things never seem to go the way they should," her face fell, and she went quiet.

"What happened?" Al asked, sitting back down.

"Granny got sick…" Winry admitted. Ed gasped, and Al blinked in amazement as Winry continued, "She was fine at first, showing improvement, but then, she got so ill she couldn't move. I had to close the shop because I couldn't run it alone. Armstrong came down, and together we moved her to the emergency room in the Central Hospital.

"It didn't look good, so Mustang started to look for another place for me to live. Even though I was nineteen, he didn't believe that I could support myself. Gracia agreed to take me in if Granny couldn't recover, but Granny had other plans. No one let me say anything. I tried to convince them that Granny would get better, but no one believed me, and after a while, I didn't believe myself.

"Granny's condition took a turn for the worse about a month after she fell ill, and she called me into her room to talk."

"_Winry, I won't live much longer," Pinako said, her face pale. Tears poured from Winry's face as she clutched her grandmother's hand._

"_Don't say that, Granny, of course you will," Winry tried. _

"_Don't be stupid. I know I'm dying. Listen; remember what Mustang told you about a year ago? About having a way to get to Ed and Al, but it requiring a live sacrifice?"_

"_Yeah…" Winry didn't like where this was going._

"_I want you to contact Mustang and tell him to start preparing it. Tell him that I'll be his live sacrifice," Pinako said decisively._

"_No, you can't be!" Winry exclaimed. Pinako sighed._

"_Please, Winry. I've lived my life already, and I loved every minute of it. But you must understand; you haven't. Your life is on the other side of the gate, with those two boys. You know as well as I do that once I'm gone you'll be a lost cause. So, when you get over to the other side, find them and let them take care of you. You three will be reunited, and I'm glad that I'll be able to be the one responsible for that," Pinako's eyes were pleading as she explained her reasoning to her granddaughter. _

_Winry hesitated, but knew that once her grandmother had set her mind to something, she never took any other advice, "All right…" _

"So, Auntie … died?" Alphonse asked quietly. Winry nodded slowly.

"She stayed alive just until Mustang set up the transmutation circle and put her in the center. As soon as he put his hands on it, it lit up red, and she disappeared. I could see a smile on her face right before she vanished. Then Mustang told me to jump through the circle, and everyone said their goodbyes as I followed his order. Next thing I knew, water had surrounded me, and I thought I was going to die. You two know the rest." Winry had tears coming down from her face now. Edward cursed and stood up.

"Damn…" he muttered angrily. Alphonse edged over and comforted Winry as a few tears ran down his face as well. "I'm going for a walk," Ed stalked off downstream, towards the setting sun.

* * *

A/N: All righty then! There's chappie 2. I hope that you enjoyed it. I'm sorry for killing off Pinako in this chapter, but I had to have some way of getting Winry to our world. Besides, she was old anyway, and that would be the way she'd want to go (or so I like to think). **Please review!** Thanks! 


	3. Berlin

A/N: Sorry it took so long to post, but I was too busy having fun in Disneyworld. I tell you what, parents always lecture kids on paitence, but man! They are like, SOOOO worse than we ever will be. O.o Every minute it's "Are we to the ride yet?" or "How long have we been waiting?" or "Is this ride really _worth_ the wait?!" Seriously, if you're going to go to Disneyworld, you had better be prepared to spend about 80 of your time in the park waiting in lines. My sister and I sure were. :D Anyway, I hope you like the chappie! Enjoy, and please review!

* * *

**Reunion**

**Chapter 3**

"There you are!" Al stood up and crossed his arms.

"Sorry," Ed surveyed the campsite. A fire cackled merrily about ten feet from the riverside. The packs and Winry's suitcase had been discarded by a tree about five feet from the fire. Al's sleeping bag had been laid out, and Ed noticed a lump inside it, while blonde hair spewed out from the top, "Is Winry asleep?"

"Yeah. It took her a while, but she quieted down enough to eat something. Then I gave her some of my dry clothes, and put her to bed," Al stated, sighing. Edward nodded and sat down by the fire, staring into it's flickering depths.

"She has had a long day," Ed murmured. Al nodded and sat down beside him.

"I can't believe Auntie died…" his eyes were dull in the firelight. Edward shook his head.

"Of all the people in our world, she was the last one I would have thought to die. Though, I suppose she was pretty old," he stated.

"She'd slap you if she were here," Alphonse pointed out. Edward smirked, his gaze not leaving the fire. They sat in silence for a few moments, "What about Winry?" Alphonse asked at last.

Ed frowned slightly, "We can't take her with us, Al."

"Auntie wanted us to watch over her, brother. We can't just leave her out here in this strange world. What else will we do with her?" Al argued.

"When we get to Berlin, we'll get her a job at a local shop. Then, whenever we pass by, we can stop by and check up on her," Ed said.

"Like she's going to go for that," Al scoffed. Ed shook his head.

"She's not going to have a choice. She _can't_ come with us. I don't …" he hesitated, "I don't want her to see what we go through. If she knew even half of the things that we've done or seen, she could have another breakdown. We can't let that happen."

"That, and we're accused criminals wanted by the Nazis… If she were with us, she could be killed," Al began to agree with his brother. Edward shifted uncomfortably.

"Man, this is a mess," he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, our first course of action is to get to Berlin. Then we'll find her somewhere to work and sneak out while she's sleeping. Hopefully she'll stay there and wait for us to come back," Al glanced at Ed, and they both laughed quietly.

"Yeah right," Edward shook with laughter, "She'll follow us whether she knows where we're going or not."

Al yawned, "Well, I'm tired, so let's discuss this in the morning, all right?"

Edward shrugged nonchalantly, "Where're you going to sleep, if Winry has your sleeping bag?"

"I've got blankets. I'll be okay," Al responded, pulling out a few thin blankets. Edward eyed them warily before shaking his head.

"Those are no good. Here, you can have my sleeping bag, and I'll just sleep against the tree," Edward threw his sleeping bag to his brother and moved to lean on the tree's large trunk. Al looked at his brother's determined face and knew that he wouldn't take it back anyway.

"Stop looking at me like that, Al. Besides, it's not that cold out. Just go to sleep," Edward closed his eyes, signifying that the conversation was over. Al sighed and crawled into the sleeping bag.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

"Winry, it's time to get up," Edward gently shook the girl awake. Winry groaned and opened her eyes slowly.

"Where am I?" she murmured, "Oh, right. Okay, I'm getting up…" groggily she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Al chuckled and continued to cook their breakfast.

"Is the food almost ready, Al?" Ed asked eagerly.

"Almost, brother. Calm down," Al said, his eyes dull with boredom.

"Hey, it's not my fault I didn't get any dinner."

"Yes it is, Ed," Winry was up and about now.

"Besides, brother, I thought we already determined that everything's your fault," Alphonse joked. Edward scowled and folded his arms.

"Whatever," he said moodily. Winry smiled and grabbed her now dry dress, "I'm going to go change. No peeking, guys!"

Al and Ed looked offended, "What kind of perverts do you think we are, Winry?" Al asked, sounding hurt. Winry winked.

"Just checking," she walked off into the woods. Al flipped the bacon that was cooking over the fire.

"Women," he muttered. Edward laughed.

"You'd better learn to deal with them or you'll never be able to survive."

"Don't act like you're so much better off then I am, brother," Al scoffed, "I don't see you with a girlfriend, and you're twenty years old."

"Ouch, Al. That hurt," Edward grinned, "No woman would want to be with a criminal hunted by the Nazis. You should know that."

"How would you know? You've never tried," Al pointed out, "At least I flirt with some of the ladies we run into."

"And break their heart when we move on? Thanks, I'll pass," Edward grabbed a slice of bacon and put an egg on his plate.

"What's all this about you flirting, Al?" Winry walked back into the campsite, her sundress now flowing around her. Al smirked.

"Well, I just start talking to them, and they think I'm flirting," he admitted. Winry nodded.

"I've taught you well, Alphonse," her eyes sparkled as she talked to the younger brother. Edward glared at her.

"You're the one who taught him to flirt, Winry? Gee, thanks!" he said shortly. Winry frowned.

"If you wanted lessons, Ed, all you had to do was ask."

Edward slapped his forehead while Winry and Al grinned at each other.

"Here, Winry, grab a paper plate and bring it over here. I'll give you some food," Al ordered. Winry picked up a paper plate and surveyed it with interest.

"What are these things?" she held it up to the rising sun, studying every detail carefully.

"Paper plates. Plates _made_ of paper," Al responded slowly and clearly. Winry shot him a glare.

"It's what the people in this world use when they don't want to do dishes," Edward gave a different definition.

"Oh…" Winry shrugged and brought it over to Alphonse. He loaded her plate while she set his clothes down beside him, "Here, Al. Thanks for letting me use them last night."

"No problem, Winry," Al handed her plate back and took the remaining food for himself. Winry sat down beside Edward, staring at her food.

"Come on, you know what eggs and bacon are," Ed pointed out, his mouth full of food.

"I know that! I was just wondering if we have any silverware. I'd prefer not to eat with my hands, thanks," she rolled her eyes at the boy's surprised glances. Apparently eating with their hands was nothing new to them, "Never mind, I'll just see what I have in my pack."

She set her food down and crawled over to her suitcase. It opened easily, and she began digging through it to find something she could use as a fork. She found a three pronged screw driver and examined it, before finally nodding and taking it back to her food, "Just to let you know, at the next stop we're going to buy some forks."

Edward shrugged, "Whatever you say, Winry."

Their old friend grinned and began cutting her eggs.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Edward asked, surveying the packed up campsite. Alphonse nodded, pulling his backpack on.

"Almost!" Winry finished attaching two wheels on her suitcase, then set it upright and grabbed the handle, "Ready!" she saluted. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Okay, then, let's get moving. We shouldn't be that far from Berlin, so our goal is to get there by tonight. Then we can find a hotel room and actually have a bed to sleep in," he began walking downstream. Winry ran to catch up with them.

"Sounds like a plan. Then what?" she asked, rolling her suitcase right along. Ed hesitated, glancing at his brother, who blinked.

"Uh… we're low on money right now, so we're going to have to get a job for a while to get our supply back up. Then we'll move out again," Al lied, "You see, Winry, we're drifters, and we don't like staying in one place for very long. So, as soon as we get some more money, we'll find somewhere else to go."

When Winry wasn't looking, Edward flashed a thumbs-up at his brother.

"Okay, that sounds reasonable," Winry nodded. Alphonse sighed in relief, "So, Ed, you don't have a girlfriend yet?"

Ed froze, wondering how she could sound so casual about it, "No. I've never settled down long enough to get one."

Al smirked mischievously, "That, or he was waiting for a certain someone to come along."

"Al," Edward hissed, "I'll kill you."

Al beamed, hiding behind Winry for protection. Edward hoped that the topic would drop, but his brother's sentence had sparked interest in his childhood friend.

"Oh, who? Who?!" Winry pleaded, eager for knowledge of Ed's love life.

Edward kicked a rock on their path, watching as it fell into the river, "No one. Al's just being stupid," he said in a just-drop-it tone.

Winry was silent for a moment before shrugging, "Okay."

"So, Winry, was Jason your only boyfriend?" Alphonse asked, "While we're on the subject, that is."

Winry nodded, "Yeah. It's just; he wanted different things. Everything was moving way too quickly for me. Things weren't working out, so we broke up. After that, I've never really wanted to date."

"Oh," Al glanced at Ed, who almost looked relieved.

"Do you think there's anyone for you out there, Al?" Winry turned to him. He shook his head.

"Nah. I'm too busy traveling with Ed," Al stated casually. Edward smirked evilly, seeing his chance.

"Well, there is Noa," he said, knowing Winry would take the bait.

"Noa?" Winry turned to Alphonse, her eagerness returning. Al sighed, giving his brother an I'll-Get-You-For-This look. Edward returned it with a Just-Returning-the-Favor look.

"Noa is a girl that Edward met when he lived here for two years before I came. She's just a nice person, and I enjoy spending time with her. That's all," Al told Winry. Edward snorted.

"What does she look like?" Winry pressed for details.

"Think Rose, only with all brown hair. She's a bit taller, too," Alphonse described the young woman.

"Okay," Winry began to lose interest, but of course Ed couldn't let that happen.

"And she's a gypsy," he muttered to Winry. Interest sparked in her crystal blue eyes as she once again turned to Al.

"A gypsy!" she exclaimed, and Al sighed tiredly. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Finally, after a long day's walk, the three friends reached Berlin. Winry looked in awe at the busy streets, bustling with people and automobiles.

"This is Berlin. It's like the Central of Germany," Ed informed his friend. Winry blinked, taking everything in.

"Wow…" she gaped, "It won't be hard to find work here, that's for sure."

"Got that right," Al glanced at Ed, who nodded, "Come on, let's find a hotel first. It's getting dark."

They made their way through the streets until Edward stopped in front of a hotel nestling between a barber shop and a grocery store.

"Here, this one will work," he said, walking inside. Winry and Al followed.

A woman stood behind the counter, reading the paper. She looked up when the bell above the door dinged, and a gentle smile broke out on her face.

"Welcome, travelers. Have you come to rent a room?" the woman asked kindly. Edward nodded.

"Do you have two rooms we can rent?" he asked. Winry blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but Al put a hand on her shoulder to silence her.

"Of course," the woman turned around and picked two keys off the hooks behind her, "Here. These two rooms share a bathroom, but that should be okay since you three seem to be traveling together, right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Ed put a few gold coins on the table, and the woman gave him the keys, "Do you know of a good place to buy clothes around here?"

She nodded, "We have a quaint clothing shop just down the street. It's fairly cheap, too," she eyed Alphonse's clothes. Edward chuckled.

"Not for him. We're looking for clothes for her. All of hers got … washed away down the river," he lied. The woman nodded slowly.

"That store will be perfect, then. It's closed now, but it'll open tomorrow. Until then, does she want to borrow one of my old nightgowns?"

Edward smiled, "That would be great."

"All right. I'll bring it by later, okay? Dinner is in the eating room, through those doors. When you get hungry, just come down and tell them your room number. Have a nice night!" she put the money in a box below the counter as Edward led his brother and friend up the stairs.

"She was nice," Al commented. Ed nodded.

"I don't think she recognizes me, but I've actually been here before, about three years ago," he said, looking at the brass numbers on each door, "I really liked the service, so I figured this would be a nice place to stay."

"Why'd you get two rooms?" Winry asked, "We've slept in the same room before."

"There's only one bed in each room, and then a couch. I didn't want Al to have to sleep on the floor," Ed grinned as Al frowned.

"Why would I sleep on the floor?" he asked, offended.

"Because, Al, I'd take the couch," Ed stated as if it was obvious. Al glared at his brother, "Besides, now you can have some privacy, Winry."

Winry blinked, "I have to stay in a weird room _alone_?"

Edward nodded, "We're right next door, so don't worry about that. Here, this is it."

Ed stuck the key into the lock and opened the door. He allowed Winry to go inside before giving her the key, "We'll be next door if you need us."

"Uh…" Winry stuttered as Ed closed the door in her face. He and Al walked down the hall, coming to the next door.

"Here's ours," he stated as he opened it. The brothers walked inside, and Al surveyed the room.

"There are two beds in here, brother," he said in a low voice as his eyes drifted to the couch, "Why did you lie to Winry?"

"We can't sneak out of here with her in the same room. You of all people should know how light of a sleeper she is," Ed replied in an equally quiet voice, "This way we can slip out without being noticed."

Al's gaze dropped sadly, and he nodded, "Okay. I can't believe we have to leave her behind after we spent two years missing her as much as we did."

"It's for the best, Al. You know that," Edward dropped his bag on the bed, "After we eat, you find an excuse to stay downstairs while I take Winry back up. Talk to the owner, and see if Winry can get a job here, okay?"

Alphonse hesitated, then nodded, "Fine."

The bathroom door burst open, and the Elric brothers quickly looked to see Winry standing there, beaming, "This place is so cute! And look, our rooms really do connect through the bathroom!"

Alphonse laughed, dropping his bag on the bed as well, "Hey, Winry, what do you say to some food?"

Winry grinned, "Bring it on!" the two headed for the door. Al walked out, but Winry paused at the frame, "Ed, you coming?"

Edward, who had been watching her with a small smile on his face, instantly came back to attention and nodded, "Yeah, just a minute."

Winry flashed a smile, and Edward felt a tug at his heart. They had just been reunited after so long. Why was the world so cruel as to force him to leave her behind once again?

* * *

A/N: Ok, that's it for now. Just to let you all know, I have already finished this story. (Well, all except the epilouge...) I am considering doing a sequel, if I can ever get past this one. ;) By the way, **reviews DO make me post faster**. So, if you want the next chappie in a day or two instead of a week or two, REVIEW. It really does make me feel better. Thankies! 


	4. Escape

A/N: Um, not much to say... Just be glad that I already finished this story, because otherwise I'd totally have ditched it by now (I'm on a .hack spree at the moment!) Okay, review, and I will post faster!

* * *

**Reunion**

**Chapter 4**

After dinner, Edward towed Winry back upstairs while Al, who had been eating slowly all night, stayed behind to 'finish his dinner'. Winry had protested that they should wait for Al, but Ed claimed that his brother would be fine.

"Besides, Winry, the owner is bringing a clean nightgown for you tonight. You wouldn't want her to be waiting for you to get back, now would you?" Ed had stated. Winry reluctantly obeyed, telling Al that they'd be upstairs when he finished.

Which brought them to their current state; Winry in the bathroom taking a relaxing soak while Edward waited patiently on his bed for her to come out. He looked at the ceiling, closing his eyes to rest for a while. _Just until Winry comes out…_ he thought before drifting off to sleep.

_Edward ran through the fields, trying to reach his house, "Al! Alphonse! Come quick! Look what I made!" he watched as his brother emerged from the house. _

"_What is it?" the six year old asked. Ed stopped, panting, before pulling out a little sculpture of the two brothers and Winry playing at a pond. _

"_Is it good? I'm giving it to Winry," Ed confessed shyly. His brother nodded. _

"_It's nice, brother," he praised. Ed beamed._

"_Come on, let's give it to her now!" _

_Alphonse nodded, grabbing his shoes and putting them on, "Okay, let's go!" the two of them ran together to the familiar yellow house. _

"_Winry! Winry, we have something to give you!" Edward cried eagerly. No one replied, so Ed ran up to the door and opened it. Suddenly he was looking at a nineteen-year-old Winry, lying on the floor in a pool of blood, "Winry!" as he ran to her the house disintegrated, and woods took its place. He glanced back at Al, who was watching with a bemused grin on his face. _

"_Al! Get help!" Edward, now twenty, shouted at his brother. _

"_Maybe later," Alphonse shrugged and walked off. Ed watched helplessly as he left, and then turned to Winry. _

"_Winry, wake up!" the older Elric brother pleaded to his best friend. Winry opened cloudy blue eyes. _

"_Edward, why didn't you save me?" she asked before closing her eyes again. _

"_Winry! Winry, no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Edward felt tears streaming down his face as he shook her to wake her up again. _

"-ward! Edward!"

Ed's eyes shot open, and he instantly sat up, panting.

"Edward, are you alright?" Winry's voice asked next to him. Ed glanced at her, staring at her face.

"You're alive…" he muttered, relief washing through his veins, "It was just a bad dream…" but he continued to shake slightly.

"Why wouldn't I be alive?" Winry asked, smiling, "Come here, silly. Stop shaking." She embraced him in a motherly sort of way, holding him until he stopped trembling.

"Sorry, Winry…" Ed drew away, embarrassed. Winry shook her head.

"You've always kept things bottled up inside, Ed. If you have a problem, talk to me about it. That's what friends are for," she stated. Edward nodded, taking her in, memorizing every detail. Her perfect face, her dripping hair, her bright blue eyes, the towel that wrapped gingerly around her figure… Wait, _towel_??

"Winry, what are you wearing?!" Edward scooted to the far corner of the room as a blush crept over his face. Winry looked down, then frowned.

"It's just a towel, Ed," she glanced back at her friend, who was currently trying to shield his face.

"I know! 'Just a towel'! Put some clothes on, woman!" he cried. Winry shrugged and stood up.

"Fine, I'll be right back," she walked towards the bathroom door as the front one opened.

"I'm back from dinner, guys," Al stated, turning to survey the room, "Gah! Winry, cover up!"

"I know!" Ed agreed, still hiding his eyes. Winry shook her head and sighed in defeat, walking through the bathroom door.

"Those boys… You'd never know they were older than fifteen," she muttered under her breath as she closed the door.

Al sighed in relief as he turned to Edward, "So I talked to the owner. She agreed to give Winry a job helping around the hotel. I told her that when she saw Winry the next morning she could tell her about it. That gives us tonight to get away," Al hesitated, "Are you sure this is what you want to do, brother?"

Edward's ponytail swayed as he stood up. His amber eyes closed as the nightmare flashed through his mind; Winry's body lying in a pool of blood, her blue eyes dull and lifeless, "Yes. This is the only way," he said in a determined voice. Al nodded slowly.

"All right, then…" he sighed and sat on his bed as the bathroom door opened again.

"Are you satisfied now?" Winry emerged through the door, her damp hair now in a high ponytail. The two boys nodded.

"Thank you," Edward lied down on his bed. Winry observed this silently, frowning.

"There are two beds and a couch in here, guys. We didn't need to pay for that extra room."

"Uh… yeah. They changed it since I was last here," Ed lied. Winry shook her head.

"We should ask for our money back! I could sleep on the couch if it bothers you guys," Winry frowned.

"Don't worry about it, Win. It's fine," Al assured her. She scowled, but let the matter drop.

"I just noticed, Al. You cut your hair; it's short now," Winry sat down on the couch. Al nodded.

"Yeah, about a week after I came here I got it cut," he replied. Winry glanced at Edward.

"And Ed, you didn't put your braid in. Did you forget how, or was your automail getting to old to do it every morning?"

"Oh… I haven't worn it in a braid for four years, Winry. I think I just grew out of it," he shrugged. Winry was silent for a moment.

"Okay, then…" she said quietly, "I guess I've missed a lot since I last saw you, huh?"

Edward paused, "Yeah, I guess so. Why, did you like the braid better?"

"I think it just made me feel closer to you, being able to braid your hair sometimes. The ponytail's nice too, though," she stood up, faking a yawn, "I'm kinda tired, so I'm going to bed. Good night."

Edward hesitated, "Winry!" the girl turned around, and he bit his lip, "Good night. It's great to have you here, just to let you know."

Winry smiled, "Thanks. I'll see you two in the morning, all right?"

The brothers hesitated, then Al nodded slowly, "Yeah." Winry gave them a loving glance before closing the bathroom door. They waited until her light went out before glancing at each other.

"Let's get to bed," Edward said quietly, "We're getting up pretty early tomorrow." Al looked sadly at the bathroom door before following his brother's orders and climbing into bed.

* * *

Edward opened his eyes, sitting up. It was still dark out, but he could see a bit of light towards the east. He silently got out of bed, trying to avoid the clanking of his metal leg and arm, "Psst! Al, wake up! We have to go."

Al stirred, opening his eyes, "Already? But we just went to sleep…"

"Time to go, Alphonse. Come on, get up," Edward whispered as he pulled on his pants, shirt, and overcoat. Because it was autumn, it was getting to be a bit chilly in the morning. Al quietly got out of bed, grabbing his own black pants, shirt, and red overcoat. Together they packed what was lying about in their backpacks, and then made the beds. Al started for the door with his backpack, but paused when he realized that Ed wasn't following him.

"Brother, come on," he said quietly. Edward motioned for him to go on.

"I'll be right down; just wait in the lobby for me," he said. Al hesitated, then nodded.

"Okay, but hurry up."

Edward waved a confirmation as his brother closed the door and crept down the hallway.

_I have to say goodbye to Winry…_ he thought, opening the door to the adjoining bathroom. His backpack lay forgotten on the floor of his room as he walked into Winry's. His metal foot only made a quiet _clank_ whenever it hit the floor, thanks to years of experience walking on it.

Winry was exactly where he had thought; on her bed. She slept soundly, a wrench pressed up to her cheek like a security blanket. He recognized it as one that he had bought for her when she had first come to Central, right after he had become a state alchemist.

"I can't believe she still has that old thing…" he murmured. She groaned, and he froze, but she merely turned over and continued sleeping. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood there for a moment, memorizing every detail of her face.

_It'll be months before I can see her again…_ he thought sadly, _But this is for the best. I have to protect her, so she needs to stay here, away from danger… I know that, so why do I feel like a part of my soul is being lost all over again?_ He watched her for a moment more before pulling out a bag of money, setting it on the table beside her bed. He also grabbed a note out of his pocket and put that next to the money. Then he glanced at her one last time before turning away, going back through the bathroom door and closing it behind him. _See you later, Winry. I promise._

* * *

"It just doesn't feel right," Alphonse folded his arms as his brother sighed, tossing his braided golden hair out of his face.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Al. Let's just keep our ears open for leads, all right?" Edward leaned on the table, resting his chin on his folded arms. Al opened his mouth to respond, but closed it, listening.

"There…" he nodded towards a group of drunk men, clearly Nazi guards by the wristband around their upper left arm. They were laughing stupidly and discussing their latest plunder through the suburbs of Berlin. Ed continued staring at the cup in front of him, but his amber eyes were alert.

"-then there was that little girl! She actually started begging me for her grandmother's life! She said that I could take her and do whatever I wanted with her, as long as her 'precious grandma' was alive!" the men laughed loudly, and Edward clenched his fists, "So I told her that if she came with me quietly, I'd leave her grandma. She agreed, and the next time she woke up, she was staring at the lifeless body of the old wench!"

"That's horrible…" Al shook his head sadly. Edward said nothing, still listening.

"Hey, it's getting to be my shift. I'd better go. I'll see you guys tonight for another round?" a large man with a stumbling step stood up and walked off without an answer. Al glanced at Ed, who nodded. The two of them put some money on the table and walked out of the bar, following the man.

He led them through quite a few alleyways, and several times he stopped as if he had forgotten where to go. Finally he led them out of the city, heading south. There he met up with a man in a car, and he climbed inside. Al and Ed watched as he began driving down the dirt road.

"Okay, so we know the next camp is in the south…" Al summed up what they had just learned. Edward nodded.

"Yeah. We should probably start going there, and figure out our plan after that," he said. Alphonse didn't move, staring at his brother.

"Uh, Edward…"

"Not now, Al, I'm thinking," he continued to mutter plans under his breath.

"Ed, you _really_ should look—" Al never got to finish this sentence, because at that moment a large wrench hit his brother over the head. Edward stumbled forward, allowing a cry of pain to leave his lips.

"What the hell?" he turned around to see Winry standing there, hands on her hips. Her sundress was gone, replaced by brown slacks, a white shirt, and a matching brown jacket. She did not look happy. Edward gaped, "Winry!"

"Yes, Edward. Very clever, leaving me like that," her tone sounded deadly, but her eyes had a hint of sadness. She continued, "Low on money; as if. You got that extra room so you two could sneak out easier! And all you leave is a letter?"

"Uh…" Ed took a step back, "We didn't want…"

"Me to see what you guys go through?" Winry held up a piece of paper, waving it in front of her friend's face, "Let's see… 'Winry, please forgive us, but we don't think you are ready to face what we experience. Here is some money to live on until we get back, and the owner of this hotel agreed to give you a job. Go buy some new clothes, and wait for us there until we get back in the spring.' You two actually thought that I couldn't handle what you go through?"

"Well…" Alphonse tried. Winry cut him off angrily.

"You two left me behind, figuring that it would be safer for me back at that hotel?" she demanded.

"Yeah…" Ed nodded.

"You two didn't even take into consideration my feelings on the subject, did you? Did you guys honestly think that I couldn't handle what you can? Did you think that I'm like most other girls, and am unable to face things like war and death?" Winry stopped, panting. Edward took his chance.

"Winry, we're just looking out for you!" he explained.

"If you didn't want me to come along, all you had to do was say so," she said quietly, "But this? Sneaking out right under my nose and hoping a note and some money would be sufficient enough?"

That hit home. Alphonse looked at the ground, nudging a rock with his shoe, while Edward desperately tried to comfort his best friend.

"Winry, we…" he hesitated, trying to think of what to say. Finally he sighed, deciding that the truth was the best thing right now, "I'm sorry. Al didn't have anything to do with the idea; it was all me. I just… I didn't want you to get hurt. I know that you, of all people, could handle what we see. It's just, though thought of you getting hurt along the way is something that I can't bear. Al and I would risk our lives to protect you, but sometimes that isn't enough in this line of business. Please, just go back to the hotel, and wait for us."

Winry stared silently at him for a moment. She finally sighed and shook her head, "No, Ed. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I can take care of myself, and if you two go, I want to come too."

Ed stood there, shocked that his speech hadn't convinced her to return to the hotel, "Winry, you don't know what your getting yourself into. You don't know how to fight, and you're not used to guns, which is what this country uses as weapons. You're, in short, inexperienced."

Winry scoffed, "I can't fight? How do you know? You haven't seen me for two years, Edward. You don't know what I'm capable of."

"_Can_ you fight, Winry?" Alphonse asked. Winry grinned and reached inside her coat, pulling out a pistol.

"Don't move," she aimed right at Al, who froze, petrified with fear.

"Winry, what're you doing? Where'd that gun come from?" Edward asked, his voice shaking in fear for his younger brother.

Winry didn't answer. Instead, she fired one single shot. Edward breathed a sigh of relief when Al didn't collapse. A few hairs fell from his head, and Al reached up to feel if there was a hole in his skull. Winry smirked and put the gun back into her coat. Edward blinked, realizing what just happened.

"News flash, Ed. I'm not one to sit around doing nothing. So, when I was in Central waiting for Mustang to finish the preparations, Hawkeye had me training. She taught me to shoot with various guns, how to win a fistfight, and how to dodge attacks. I'm not just some pathetic girl who cowers the moment danger approaches, and it's time you learned that," Winry folded her arms while Ed stared at her with newfound respect. Alphonse waited for his brother's decision impatiently.

Finally Ed sighed, "I guess you really have changed, Winry. I don't think I could stop you now, even if I tried."

Winry beamed, "Good choice. Now come on, I left my luggage back at the hotel," she began heading back towards Berlin, and Alphonse ran past his brother to keep up with the girl.

As Edward watched them go, he felt a heavy weight being lifted from his shoulders. Winry was still going to travel with them, and now he wouldn't have to wonder how she was reacting. He ran to catch up with the two, who were now joking about Alphonse being a practice target. Things were looking brighter already.

* * *

A/N: Come on! This is an Ed x Winry story! Did you honestly believe that I'd leave her behind? This story is made because I wasn't satisfied with how they left her behind in the movie! I'd be committing blasphemy if I left her. Hope you liked it! Please review; i post faster! 


	5. Rescue

A/N: Okay, i'm impressed. Thanks for all the reviews, here's the next chappie:D

* * *

**Reunion**

**Chapter 5**

Edward peered through the bushes that blocked their view of the concentration camp. He cursed quietly, sitting back down with his back to the chain link fence that kept the prisoners in and the civilians out. Winry stifled a giggle, and he glanced sharply at her.

"What?" he hissed, and she instantly cleared her face of all emotion.

"Nothing. Sorry," she waited as he continued to stare into her crystal blue eyes with his own honey-golden ones. Finally he huffed something about 'girls' and turned back to the fence. Winry had to bit her lip to keep from laughing again as she watched this.

_It's weird,_ she thought, _but even though we're surrounded by people who wouldn't hesitate to kill us, just being near him makes it seem bearable, almost comical at times. I've missed him so much…_ she wiped those thoughts from her mind as she focused on the task at hand.

Edward leaned closer to her, "Winry, see that right there?" he pointed towards a plain looking building. Winry nodded slowly.

"Yeah," she whispered back. The building in itself was nothing special, there were no significant marks that showed any form of danger or salvation. All she saw was a single metal door that decorated the front of the building. There were no windows.

Ed frowned grimly, "The Nazis put people, Jews, mostly, inside that building and burn them alive. It's like an indoor oven."

Winry covered her mouth as she stared in horror at the suddenly menacing building. Edward put a hand on her shoulder, and she stared back at him, feeling queasy with the knowledge he had just told her, "Why would they do that?" her voice was barely a whisper.

He shook his head, "Because they're a sick group of people who believe that non-Germans shouldn't be allowed to live."

Winry said nothing, only continued to look for hope in Edward's eyes. She saw nothing but the bare truth, and she swallowed down her hatred for these people so Edward wouldn't think she was too weak to stay with him, "What are we going to do to stop it?"

"There's not much we can do, honestly. What Al and I have been doing is finding the camps over Germany and watching them for a few days. Every camp has a different schedule, you see. Then, when night falls, one of us distracts the guards while the other one goes in to free as many helpless people as they can. Then we take the people we free to the border, so they can go into another, safer country," Edward looked up to see Alphonse emerging from the brush surrounding the camp.

"Okay, I've gotten a rough estimate on how many guards there are," Al stated calmly, sitting down beside his brother and friend, "From what I gather, there's about 100 guards during all the rounds. It's a pretty small camp, after all. At night, the guards become lazy, though. They go drinking, or they play cards inside. No one really pays much attention, probably because no one has tried to escape yet," Al opened his mouth to continue, but Winry cut him off.

"Wait, why don't they try to escape?" she demanded angrily. Edward sighed.

"They've been broken, Win. Their hopes have been taken away from them and broken into a million pieces in front of their eyes. They've watched as their family members and friends have been killed, just for being who they are. There's nothing pushing them to escape, because they know that their fate will be all that much worse if they're caught again. There's no where for them to run to," he smirked, "until now, that is."

Alphonse nodded in agreement, "It's my turn to be the distraction, so why don't you take Winry along to help you? Two people will be far more efficient than just one."

"Good idea," Edward turned to Winry again, "Win, listen closely. Once we get inside, we have to act quick. Alphonse can guarantee ten minutes, at the most. We're going to get inside, grab as many people as we can, and get out. Don't feel sorry for the ones we can't get, or the ones that refuse to come. Just lead the willing ones to the fence and together we'll get them as far away from the camp as we can. Got it?"

Winry hesitated, "Won't the guards notice their absence?"

Alphonse laughed dryly, "Please. These guards have so many people here that they can't keep tabs on everyone. We'll break out as many as we can tonight, and then return to this camp in a few months to try again. If we're lucky, they won't notice until we've taken these people across the border. Then, they're powerless."

"We have some contacts in Scezecin, a town just northeast of here, in Poland. Once we get the people across the border, our contacts meet up with us and take the people somewhere safe. They even help them get situated in homes and start new lives," Edward gave a comforting smile, "We may not be doing a lot, and there are still so many people we can't save, but at least there are some that can keep living because of us."

Winry nodded, determined to do her best in helping Edward and Alphonse with their quest, "I'm ready. I'll do whatever it takes to help."

Alphonse glanced up through the trees, "It's getting dark. We just need to bide our time until about midnight, and then we can go."

"You'd better get some sleep, Winry. Al and I are used to going for long periods of time without sleep, but you're not. It helps to be fully rested when we get the people and start our walk to Scezecin," Edward told her sternly. Winry rolled her eyes, but headed back to the spot where they had left their supplies without complaint.

Al glanced back at Ed when she was out of hearing range, "Are we really going to let her do this, brother? It's so dangerous, maybe we should just let her wait here until we get back…"

"She can handle herself," Edward said, though his eyes said otherwise, "Even if we tell her to stay, she'll follow us in and be in even more danger because I won't know about it. It's best if I can keep an eye on her."

"If you say so…" Alphonse muttered quietly, clearly not agreeing in the least.

* * *

"Stick close, Winry," Edward muttered under his breath. Winry nodded slightly, and Edward began to cut a hole in the fence on the south side of camp. The plan was to get the people, then lead them around the side of the camp to throw the guards off of the trail. It was a simple trick, but hopefully it would work. Edward caught the piece of the fence before it clattered to the ground and hid it in a nearby bush. Winry started forward, but he held his arm out to stop her.

"Wait for Alphonse's signal," he said, deathly quiet. They waited for a minute that felt like eternity, and Winry almost screamed when she heard a gunshot in the distance. Ed smiled grimly, "That's our cue. Follow me," he crawled through the hole and waited for Winry to come through as well. Then he led her along the sides of the camp.

In the distance, they could hear guards running towards the gunshots, shouting commands. Winry paled, "Won't they kill Alphonse?"

Ed chuckled, "No. Luckily for us, both of us have the look of pure Germans, with blonde hair. He's perfected the accent, so all he has to do is pretend that something came up just outside of town or something like that. We vary it every time. Then the Nazis dismiss him as a drunk German who wandered too far off the path, and go back to guarding. By that time, we're gone," he stopped, causing Winry to almost collide into him. She regained her balance and glanced at the building to their left.

"Is that it?" she whispered. Edward nodded.

"Yeah. Follow my lead, but don't say anything," he put his finger to his lips to emphasize that point and walked forward, gently picking the lock on the door and opening it. He walked inside, and flicked on the light.

Winry almost gasped as she saw the people huddled on the floor. Some were sleeping, but most were just staring at Edward with a look of horror on their faces. Men pushed children behind them, and women cowered in fear. Edward held up his hands, palm out.

"We're not here to hurt you. Stay quiet, please, or the guards will hear," he had a deep commanding voice that Winry had never heard him use before. Some of the people relaxed a bit, but most stayed tense, waiting. Edward took a deep breath, "I've come to break you out of this building, and this place. Please, if you're interested, follow me and my friend," he gestured towards Winry, who waved slightly.

One of the men stood up, "How do we know that you're not a guard in disguise, coming to take us to an early death?"

Edward opened his mouth to speak, but a woman stood as well, "Be quiet! Can't you see that girl? The Nazis don't allow female guards."

Murmurs of agreement ran through the small group. Edward nodded, "I promise that we'll get you to safety. I have contacts in Poland who will help you find homes and jobs. Please, we're running out of time. Follow me, and you can be free."

A few other people stood up and warily walked forward. Winry glanced at the people still sitting, "Can't you see that he's telling the truth? Please, come with us! We'll make sure you are safe!"

A small female child walked forward, looking up at Winry, "Promise?"

"I promise," Winry smiled gently and patted the girl on the head. The child grinned, showing missing teeth, and turned back to a man and woman still sitting.

"Come on, mommy! Let's go with them!" she whispered. Her parents glanced at each other, and the man nodded slightly. Both stood up to stand by their daughter.

"Is that everyone who is willing to go?" Edward eyed the few people still sitting. None of them moved, so Ed shrugged slightly, "All right, then, follow me," he led the willing out, and Winry followed at the end of the line. She waited until everyone else was out, and then turned back to the seated people.

"Please, come with us," she pleaded quietly. They watched her, and said nothing. She bit her lip and turned around to follow Edward and the group. Unfortunately, they were nowhere in sight, so she began to creep along the path that they had taken in, knowing that she would meet up with Ed once she got out.

"Hey! Who are you?" a deep voice demanded, and Winry froze. She glanced behind her at a large man holding a heavy baton. He slapped his palm with it a few times, glaring at her, "Do you know that it's after operating hours?" he growled.

Winry put on her most determined face, but couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't give away Edward or Alphonse. The man chuckled darkly.

"Got nothing to say, huh?" he took three paces to stand less than two feet in front of her. His hand shot out and grabbed her left arm, wrenching it back and pulling off her jacket sleeve. Winry bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as the man held her arm firmly. He stared at her shoulder, and a frown was evident on his face, "Where's your mark, girl?" he spat.

Winry narrowed her eyes, "Mark?" she demanded. He nodded shortly.

"The number that was tattooed on your shoulder! Why don't you have one? Which building do you belong to?" he shot out questions like a machine gun does bullets.

"I don't have one," Winry said slowly. The man narrowed his eyes.

"How did you get in here, then?" he kept his painful hold on her arm.

Winry stayed silent, not willing to tell him about Ed and the people they rescued. Hopefully Edward would have already taken the group to a safe spot, instead of waiting for her to come out, or worse, coming in to find her. The man stared at her stubborn look and pursed lips for a moment.

"You're coming with me," he growled, tugging at her arm and practically towing her towards one of the lit buildings in the center of the camp. Winry didn't risk a glance back towards the hole in the fence, lest the guard see and decide to raise an alarm.

_Please, Edward, get those people to safety…_ she thought desperately, knowing full well that once he found out, he would stop at nothing to get her back. _Don't worry about me…_

* * *

Edward stopped and turned around, taking in the joyful faces of the freed people. They still talked quietly, but he could see hope in their eyes that probably wasn't present for a long time. He scanned the group of about twenty and frowned.

"Have any of you seen my friend, Winry?" he felt it was safe to tell them her name now that they were successfully out of the camp. He didn't tell them sooner, just in case they decided not to come and then were questioned about it later.

The people shook their heads slowly, and one of the women walked forward, "I haven't seen her since we got out of the building. Wasn't she supposed to be following behind us?"

Edward nodded, "Who was the last person in the line?"

A young man, about eighteen, waved his hand, "That was me. I saw her before we left, but no one was behind me once we walked out."

Fear made Edward freeze, and he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming angrily. The last thing these people needed was to see the person who rescued them go berserk.

"Brother," a voice called through the trees, and the people froze. Edward held his hands up again.

"Don't worry, everyone. That's my brother, Alphonse. He's the one who did the distraction to occupy the guards while I got you out," he flashed a fake smile to reassure them, then turned to Al, who was coming from the direction of the camp.

"Mission accomplished, I see," he praised, "I kept the guards busy with the whole 'I saw an alien, I swear!' gig. It worked quite well. They ended up telling me to go back to bed," he chuckled.

Edward leaned in so the people wouldn't hear, "Al, we have a problem."

Alphonse blinked, "What is it?"

"Winry," Edward breathed, "She didn't follow us out. She was supposed to be right at the end of the line, but no one's seen her since we left the building."

"No…" Alphonse balled his fists in anger, "Not Winry… I knew we shouldn't have let her come!"

Ed closed his eyes to keep from throwing an anger fit, "What should we do, Al? These people still need to get to the border, but we can't leave Winry behind."

Al thought for a moment, while Ed fought to keep his head clear, "I'll take the people to the border. You stay behind and free Winry, then meet me in Poland. I'll wait in Scezecin for you."

"That works…" Edward nodded slowly, "Okay, be careful."

Alphonse nodded, "Same goes for you."

Ed turned back to the people, who were anxiously awaiting word from their saviors. He faked another smile, "All right, we've lost our friend. But we obviously can't leave you here, so my brother Alphonse is going to take you to the border. I'll stay behind and get Winry back. Don't worry, Alphonse is a great guy to have lead you to the border, and he knows all the routes to avoid trouble. You will all be perfectly safe with him."

A murmur ran through the crowd, and Alphonse grinned, "I'm much more fun to hang out with anyway! You don't want Edward. He's way too stuffy and unfun."

"Unfun?" Edward quoted, raising an eyebrow. A weak chuckle ran through the crowd. Alphonse grinned, and Ed shrugged, "Either way, I wish you safe passage on your journey." He bowed slightly and put a hand on Alphonse's shoulder.

"Good luck. I'll meet up with you soon."

Alphonse stared into his amber eyes, "Get Winry back, brother. I'm counting on you."

"I will. See you later," he waved, and Alphonse walked to the front of the group.

"Okay everyone! Let's go!" and he led them through the trees, away from the concentration camp and Winry. Edward watched them go, then turned back to the camp.

"I'm coming, Winry…"

* * *

A/N: Oh no, what will happen?! lol. I know! And so will you, if you all review! Remember, reviews faster posts! 


	6. Action

A/N: Ok, here's chappie 6. I have one more chapter after this, and I may do an epilogue, but i'm not sure yet. :D Haven't thought that far ahead, you see. Anyway, enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews!

**Also, here's a special shoutout to all of my Poland readers! **I didn't realize that my story was being read around the world (which is really cool, if you ask me!)! Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

**Reunion**

**Chapter 6**

Winry blinked back light as another man turned on the lamp at the end of a table. She was seated across from him, with her hands tied and her mouth gagged. The guard who had caught her stood alert at the door. The second man walked over and undid her gag, giving her a pleasant smile.

"You may go, Harmon. Thank you for your good work tonight," he told the guard, who glanced at Winry before nodding and bowing himself out. The remaining man turned back to the tied girl, "Hello. My name's Varick. And you are?"

Winry scowled at him, refusing to say a word. He was acting friendly, but she had a feeling that it was just a ploy to get her to talk. She'd seen how Mustang acted against criminals, but she'd never imagined that she'd be on the other end of the table. Varick sighed.

"That's fine, I'll find out eventually. Now, I'm the head person here in this facility, and finding you in my camp concerns me. You're not a Jew, I can see that. So what were you doing in here? And how did you get in?" Varick took a seat opposite Winry, intertwining his fingers together and resting his chin on them.

Still Winry said nothing. Anger flashed on Varick's face, but he quickly calmed it with a forced smile.

"If you tell me why, I will release you immediately with full pardons. My camp is no place for little girls, and I'm sure we'd both be happier if you talked," he paused for Winry to speak, but she merely looked away, "The other option is to keep you in one of our holding cells until you decide to talk. You will have little food and water, no beds or pillows, and I think I can even arrange for you to stay in one of the roofless buildings."

Winry shuddered, but was still silent. _I'll never tell scum like this about Ed and Al. Never._ She thought angrily. Varick laughed, a nasally sound that sent a new wave of chills through her.

"All right, then. Roofless building it is. Last chance to talk," he didn't even wait for her silence before clapping his hands twice. Instantly two new guards ran in the room, batons out. Varick pointed towards Winry, "Take her to holding cell four. Make sure she's nice and comfortable," a wicked glint shone in his eyes as both guards nodded gruffly and seized her arms on either side, dragging her up.

They led her to the door, and Varick grinned at her as she passed, "It's a shame, you're actually a very pretty woman." he traced her cheekbone with a rough finger, and Winry shivered again. She nearly bit him, but the guards hauled her out of the room too fast.

The guards led her through the middle of the camp, straight for a large, square building with barbed wire on the top of it. Varick had kept his word; there was no roof or windows. Only a metal door showed any sign of entry, and it was clad with the strongest looking lock Winry had ever seen. One guard kept his hold on her, and the other one pulled out a series of keys and began unlocking it. The unlocking process took a while, but they managed to finally open the door. Winry was surprised to see absolutely nothing in the empty room. It consisted of four white walls, a small indentation covering one of them, with a door leading inside the indentation. The floor was made of dirt. That was it.

The guards took off her ropes and threw her inside before slamming the door shut. She heard them lock it back up again and walk off. Winry crawled to the door and surveyed it. It was thick steel, very powerful. She noticed strong bolts keeping it in place and wished that she had her wrench with her. Unfortunately, carrying hardware wasn't something that one should do when rescuing people from a concentration camp. No, it was in the pile of all of their bags, which Alphonse and Edward had probably taken once they got free of the camp again.

Winry noticed a flap towards the bottom of the door, and she ran her fingers over it. It moved, clearly a food flap. She bent down and peered through the flap to see the sun rising above the treetops, accompanied with dirty feet of various sizes walking in single file lines past her door. She could hear only the other guards' instructions to 'go here' or 'walk that way'. At one point, Winry saw one of the feet trip and fall, revealing a boy that couldn't have been older than 12. He tried to stand again, but he didn't have the strength, so he just lay there for a moment.

Then the guard came. At first he only yelled at the boy. Then, when the boy showed no sign of moving, he kicked him, hard. The boy cried out, and Winry gasped. The boy struggled to stand, and she saw him limping away, clearly injured, leaving a small trail of blood from his bruised feet. She closed the flap and looked away. Then she moved to the opposite wall and leaned up against it, burying her head in her knees. And she began to cry. It wasn't loud, and she doubted that anyone else could hear it through the thick cement walls of her prison.

She cried as familiar memories ran through her head. Alphonse carrying her luggage from the river, and Edward leaning over her with concern on his face. Her grandmother lying helpless in the hospital bed, sacrificing the last of her life to get Winry to her two best friends. Gracia and Elisia standing beside Hughes grave, mourning. Edward and Alphonse deciding to become state alchemists. And finally, Alphonse carrying Ed's broken and bloody body after their attempt to transmute their mother back.

She cried harder at that memory, knowing that that was the time she had begun to lose Edward and Alphonse for what she thought was forever. She would have, too, if it hadn't been for Pinako and Mustang. And yet, she still managed to screw things up and get caught by these so-called Nazis. She knew that Edward was probably laughing right now, telling Alphonse that he was right, and that Winry wasn't cut out for staying with them.

Winry lost track of time as she sat there, crying. The sun was overhead and to the left as she finally quieted to sniffles. She didn't remove her head from her hands until she heard the sound of the lock opening on her door. She quickly looked up, trying to wipe all traces of her sobs from her face as she glared at the guard who walked through the door. He crossed her cell in two paces and grabbed her arm, wrenching her up.

"Come on. Varick demands to see you," his tone was brusque, like so many other guards in the camp. Winry sighed and followed him quietly back to the main building, and the interrogation room.

Varick didn't look happy when she walked in. Actually, Winry would have thought it was quite comical how different he looked from that morning if she wasn't already in a depressed mood. Varick pointed a stubby finger towards the chair, and the guard sat Winry down, binding her arms behind her again. He tied it so tight that Winry could have sworn it was cutting the skin. Then he walked out without a word, leaving Winry alone with Varick for the second time that day.

"So," Varick snarled, "who are you working with?"

Winry blinked.

"Don't play stupid, I know you had help. A guard finds you just a few paces away from a building that is mysteriously missing over half it's occupants, and the prisoners are nowhere in sight. You give the silent treatment, biding time for your friends to get away. Now, when we realize that the prisoners are missing, we search for them. But of course, they're long gone. Any explanation?"

Silence.

"I see. How about this, then? I will offer you my previous idea: freedom with apologies. In exchange, all I ask for are names, faces, descriptions. You tell me about your friends, and I'll, in turn, free you. A fair trade, don't you think?" Varick narrowed his dark brown eyes as Winry grinned.

"What's so funny, girl?" he spat. Winry laughed, a sound that was desperately out of place in the dismal room.

"There's absolutely no way I'd tell you anything," Winry giggled, "And the fact that you think that tempting me with lies would make me talk is very amusing."

Angry didn't even come close to describing Varick's response to this comment. Livid was a bit more appropriate. His face turned from red to purple in a few seconds, and he slammed balled fists on the table with tremendous force. Winry said nothing more, watching his response with interest.

"Listen, girl, and listen good. Do you know what kind of camp this is?" he growled, bending down close to Winry's face. Winry nodded, "Good. Then you know what we do here. We make the impure ones pretty much have living hell for the rest of their short lives. It's quite easy, actually, and very enjoyable. If you don't shape up, I can easily make your life hell too. Now, what's it going to be?"

Winry shrugged nonchalantly, though inside anger was rising at his statement of killing people, "No thanks."

Her face flung to the side, and her left cheek burned from where he had slapped her. She blinked back tears that threatened to fall from the pain. She wouldn't give him the pleasure. He straightened and clapped his hands again, "That was just a taste of what you'll be experiencing soon enough, girl." He said with venom dripping from every word.

Guards walked in and escorted her from the main building back to her cell.

* * *

Edward peered through his binoculars at the campsite, scanning it for signs of his friend. Prisoners blocked his view, and from what he could tell there were more guards walking about than there had been the previous day. They must have learned about Alphonse taking the prisoners. He had no doubt that they would question Winry about it, and he wondered if she would tell about them. 

"No way, she's too stubborn," Ed muttered under his breath, "But damn. I wish she would talk, so that they'll let her off easy…"

He continued to scan the grounds. If it were up to him, he would just run in there and kill any guard who got in his way. Unfortunately, in this world, he didn't have alchemy, and that was a problem. He couldn't lock up big groups of guards inside a cage using only the dirt under their feet. He couldn't conjure up a cannon or a rocket launcher to blast anyone. He couldn't even transform his automail into a sword to slice them down. In his mind, he was practically helpless to stop them.

"Damn…" he muttered again, "Why did I let her come? Winry, don't do anything stupid until I can get to you…"

He froze as he heard footsteps running below him, and he grinned as an idea entered his mind. He fixed his position on the tree branch that he had been looking at the camp from, and waited. Sure enough, a few seconds later a guard walked casually underneath him, waving his baton and looking quite confident. Edward pushed away from the tree and landed on the man, effectively knocking him down. The former Fullmetal Alchemist quickly covered the man's mouth so he couldn't cry for help, and then dragged him out of the area to a safer spot farther from the camp.

Ed brought his face close to the man once they reached a clearing about fifty yards from the camp, but still held an iron grip, literally, on the guard's hands. The guard struggled and fought as Edward continued to hold his mouth, "Stop moving and listen up if you value your life," Ed growled.

The man instantly stopped moving, watching Edward with terrified eyes. Ed smirked, "Now, tell me what you know about a girl who was recently captured in the camp. Answer wisely, and you'll live. Scream or call for help, and I'll kill you faster than you can blink," his automail hand tightened on the man's wrists to show he was serious. He cautiously removed his hand from the guard's mouth.

The guard glanced around quickly, "I don't know anything about a girl!" he said quickly. Too quickly. Edward narrowed his eyes.

"Don't lie, that doesn't bode well for seeing tomorrow either. Tell me what I want to know, _now._"

"Okay, okay!" the guard clearly didn't like the thought of losing his life. He was probably just a volunteer anyway, with no real ties to the Nazis. Lucky for Ed, "Harmon found her! He brought her to Varick, our boss, and then left! Last I heard, she was being held in a detention cell towards the main building!"

Edward frowned, "Which cell?"

"I don't know!" the man bit his lip to keep from crying out as Edward's grip tightened, "…. 4! Cell 4! That's where she's being kept!"

"Good, good. What kind of security is there around cell 4?"

The guard blinked, "You're not planning on trying to break in, are you?"

Edward glowered, "I ask the questions!"

"Ow! The security is pretty tight that far in the building! Uh… Locks! There's a huge lock on cell 4, bigger than any other holding cell! It takes three keys to open, I think!"

"Give me your set of keys," Ed demanded. The guard shook his head nervously.

"I don't have them; only senior officers have keys to the holding cells. I'm just a sentry! Please, let me go!" he pleaded. Edward sighed and nodded.

"Give me your clothes."

The guard blanched, "What?!"

"Give me your uniform! Now!" he released the man's wrists, but stood close so he couldn't run. Quickly, the guard stripped of everything but his boxers. Edward grinned as he took the uniform, then, without hesitating, he slammed his automail arm on the back of the man's neck, effectively knocking him out. The guard crumpled to the floor, and Edward hauled him over his shoulder and carried the lifeless form to a deep ditch that he had found several hundred yards away from the camp. He wouldn't kill the man, but putting him in the ditch stopped any idea of the man running back to the camp to get help.

With the man discarded in the ditch, Edward quickly stripped of his own clothes and dressed in the Nazi's uniform. He left his clothes in a nearby tree and searched the uniform pockets for important information he should know if he was to be impersonating this guy. He found pictures with names on the back, probably of the man's family and friends. He also found a number on a dog tag in one of the pockets, and he promptly memorized it. Them he pulled on the hat to hide his long blond hair, and started towards the camp.

He would get to Winry. He promised himself that.

* * *

A/N: Ok, next chapter about wraps it up:D Again, there may be an epilogue, but I haven't decided yet. :) I had an idea for a sequel too, but again, that's still in the planning stage. Review, and I post faster! ;) 


	7. End

A/N: Wow. I'm really really impressed, guys. As usual, I update when I get enough reviews, but this time it only took you all like, two days to get the amount that satisfied me. O.o So, like I promised, here's the final chappie. Again, there may be an epilogue, but I haven't written it yet, so it's debatable.

* * *

**Reunion  
**

**Chapter 7**

Winry shivered, bracing herself against the wall, trying to find a little heat. Her jacket had been taken from her early on, leaving her in a tang top and a skirt. Normally, that would have been fine for the night, but the weather had taken a turn for the worst. It was now, quite literally, pouring on her. And the water, with nowhere to go, had been soaked up into the dirt, making a very sloppy mud. Winry had tried to stand to get away from it, but had found that standing only made it worse, as she slipped and fell into the muck.

Instead, she was kneeling against the wall, trying to get away from the torrents of rain that pummeled her skin mercilessly. This had been going on for about an hour now, and Winry could tell she was going to get sick from it. She didn't even hear someone knocking on the metal door, and then fiddling with the lock. She did, however, notice when someone opened the door slowly, and dim light flooded into the cell.

"What do you want?" she growled as she saw the guard's uniform, "Here to make sure I'm suffering?"

A chuckle, and she blinked as she recognized it, "Good to see you still have a fighting spirit, Winry."

"Edward!" she stood up immediately and took a few steps forward, running to her best friend. Halfway there, though, she tripped and began to fall. Strong arms caught her, however, and she was hauled upward. Ed hugged her close to him, and she relished in the warmth of his body. He tightened his hold on her, grinning in the crooked way that he did.

"Thank god you're still alive," he murmured into her hair. Winry nodded as she continued to bury her head in his shirt.

"I wouldn't die. Not without saying goodbye first," she joked. Edward squeezed her again and then pulled away.

"We'll talk later. Come on, I have to get you out of here," he poked his head out of the cell and looked around, "There're a few guards along the way to the main entrance, but if we escape through the hole in the fence that we got through last night, then we should be okay."

"Let's go to the fence then," Winry breathed, clutching his automail arm. Edward nodded shortly and gently pried her off.

"Pretend that you're miserable, and don't show any recognition that you know me, just in case someone stops us. Let me do the talking," his voice sounded tight.

Winry nodded and let go of his arm, and he promptly grabbed her upper arm to steer her towards the gate. His grip loosened as Winry winced, and he looked at her arm to see large bruises covering the area just below her shoulders, "Aw, Win… What did they do to you?"

Winry shook her head slightly, "Later."

Edward didn't say another word as he looked ahead and walked stiffly towards the gate. With the uniform, he completely blended in, and she didn't think anyone would think he was out of place. Unfortunately, another guard stopped him halfway to the fence.

"Hey, you! What are you doing with that girl?" he demanded. Winry said nothing, following Ed's orders.

Edward cleared his throat, "Varick ordered me to take her to a different cell. He doesn't want her to die of pneumonia before he gets a chance to get answers out of her," he faked a perfect accent, identical to the other guard's. The guard narrowed his eyes and glanced at Winry.

"Did he really?" the guard sounded convinced, but he didn't move from the path, "What's your number?"

"8561B754," Ed recited. The man peered closer.

"B, huh? Well, you outrank me, so I have no power to stop you. I suppose if Varick told you to do it, then it's okay either way," the guard stepped aside, "Sorry to trouble you."

Winry made an act of glaring, first at the other guard, then at Edward as he began to tow her once more towards the gate. To the other guard, it looked like he was leading her to the building just in front of the hole in the fence, but Winry knew better. They kept a casual pace until Edward was sure that he was out of range, then veered to the left of the building. The fence loomed in front of them, and Edward waited for Winry to get through the hole this time before following. Then he led her, by the small of her back this time, through the woods.

Winry kept walking until Edward stopped by a tree. There he left her on the ground, shielded slightly by the pouring rain, as he retrieved his backpack and clothes. He threw his jacket at her.

"Put that on, otherwise you really will catch pneumonia," he ordered. Winry mindlessly put it on, swaying slightly from exhaustion and hunger. Edward noticed, of course, "Winry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she responded lightly, "Just a bit tired is all," her stomach chose that moment to rumble, revealing to Edward that she was, in fact, hungry as well.

"How long has it been since you've eaten, Win?" he asked with concern. She silently cursed her stomach as she tried to count how long it was.

"Um… The hotel, maybe?" she continued to think.

Edward furrowed his brow, "That long ago? Didn't they feed you at all when you were there?!"

Winry sighed, "They might have. I can't remember…"

He looked closer at her, "Win, you're falling asleep on your feet. Come on, let's get a bit farther away from the camp, and then we'll stop and call it a day, okay?" he started to lead her away, but Winry was oblivious to it all. To her, all that mattered was she was back with Edward again.

She didn't remember stopping, or climbing the tree, or even eating the food Ed gave her. All she remembered before falling asleep was leaning up against Edward and having him whisper to her, "Sweet dreams, Winry," like he used to do whenever she was sick and he stayed the night to help her get better.

* * *

Winry groaned and opened her eyes, greeting sunlight along with chirping birds. She blinked drearily, "Where…?" 

"You're finally awake, I see," Edward's voice came from behind her, and she whipped around to see him behind her, sitting straddled against a strong limb of a tree with his back to the trunk. She was leaning against his chest in the same position.

"Yeah… Where are we?" Winry made no notion to move away from her best friend.

Edward chuckled, "We're in a tree, of course."

"…Why?"

"Well, they would have found us had we stayed on the ground," Ed told her. Winry froze.

"The Nazis are after us?"

Ed shrugged, "They were, but they didn't bother to look up once they searched the ground. They're long gone by now."

Winry blinked, "Oh. That's good…"

"Here, eat this," Edward produced a bar of something and handed it to her, "It's called chocolate. It'll help you get your strength back."

She took the chocolate and bit into the side of the bar. The sweet flavor of it spread throughout her mouth, and the taste lingered long after she swallowed, "Thanks," she took another bite.

Edward surprised her as he wrapped his arms around her again, "Winry, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to you sooner. If I still had alchemy, I would have turned that camp upside down looking for you."

"But you don't have alchemy, Ed. Besides, it's not like I was there for very long. I told you that I could handle myself, and I did," she snuggled into his chest, taking another bite of chocolate.

"Which is why I found you in the middle of a downpour, in a roofless cell, soaked to the bone and shivering up a storm?" Edward shook his head, "Why didn't they put you in one of the cells with a roof?"

Winry thought for a moment, "I think it was because I didn't tell Varick about you and Alphonse," she chuckled at the memory, "He got pretty mad about that… Or it might have been that when I first met him, I gave him the silent treatment… I don't know, I don't remember."

Edward began hitting the back of his head against the tree trunk in frustration, "Winry! Why didn't you talk? You should have told him something, anything, to make him happy! He might have released you, or at least put you in a cell with a roof!"

"I won't betray my two best friends for my wellbeing, Edward," she said sternly, "Got that?"

Ed growled slightly, but said nothing else. Winry finished the chocolate bar and wiped her hands on her skirt to clean them.

"How did you know where I was? And how did you get that uniform?" she asked, pointing to the discarded uniform on another branch of the tree. Edward shifted, and she noticed that he had changed clothes sometime during the night, as he was now wearing some of his German clothes.

"I jumped a guard and stole his uniform. Then I impersonated him to get inside. I knocked out a few guards and hid them, taking the keys out of their pockets. I found out that the letter in their identification number signifies how high of a rank you are, so I changed his number to B instead of E. I think the only one who has an A rank is Varick. Then I found your cell and opened it, though that inside itself took me about fifteen minutes because of all the keys I had to try," he grinned.

Winry frowned angrily, "You jumped a guard, and then broke in, just to rescue me? Edward Elric, what were you thinking?"

Ed sighed, "God, it's been a long time since I've heard you say that, Winry," he hesitated, "I'll keep better watch on you next time. I've actually been thinking about meeting Alphonse in Poland, then going back to Germany one more time to get Noa. Then we could all four travel back to the border and live in the countryside of Poland until the war is over. That way we could all be together."

"No!" Winry cried, "You guys can't just stop helping people because I showed up! I'll do better next time, I promise!"

"Winry," Edward cocked his head, "We've been doing this for two years; I think we've done our part. There's nothing wrong deciding to settle down. Besides, sooner or later, we're going to get caught. You can only be careful for so long, and I'd prefer not to be killed for helping some people I don't know. I know that sounds mean, but we have two years of helping them to back our decision up."

Winry said nothing, biting her lip.

"Winry?"

"Edward, if you want to stop, then that's your choice, and I'll back you up. But please, don't stop because I messed up this one time. Please, don't stop doing what you think you need to do just because I get in the way…" Winry trailed off.

"I'm doing this for all of us, Win. Besides, it's time that I settle down, I think. Find a nice girl, maybe, have a few kids. What do you think?" he squeezed her gently.

Winry nodded slowly, "Y—Yeah. Sure."

Ed chuckled, "You do know that I meant you, right?" he inquired. Winry froze.

"What?"

"If you want to, I would like to spend the rest of my life with you. Finding you, only to lose you again, made me realize that. Please, Winry," he paused dramatically, "Marry me?"

Winry nearly fell out of the tree, and would have if he hadn't been holding her. She twisted to see his face, staring into his honey-golden eyes with her crystal blue ones, trying to see if he was telling the truth. She saw sincerity, hope, and love, but nothing else, and that was good enough for her. He blushed slightly at the lengthy pause, and Winry decided to end his impatient waiting.

"Yes, Ed. Of course I'll marry you," she grinned, embracing him in a tight hug, and then leaning back. Edward pulled her closer, and they kissed under the light streaming through the tree's leaves.

* * *

A/N: Ok, sorry that was kinda short, but I hope it got the point across. :D I love EdxWinry fluff! Either way, that's the end of the fic. An epilogue is a possibility, but I'd have to rewatch the movie to get back in the FMA kick again (because I have random obsessions, where I totally fixate on a certain fandom. When I wrote this, it was FMA. I've moved onto .hack, but if i watch the FMA movie, I'll get back to it for a while. My writing is better when I'm in the fandom i'm currently obsessing over. Weird, huh?) Ok, review please! I always love to hear comments:) 


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